My Treasure Hunt

When I was a kid....rather an imaginative one,  I used to spend my past time in reading adventure books and inevitably I used to get so influenced or rather impressed by the characters that I'd read, that I used to imagine myself as the 'hero'ine and believed each and every words that I used to read!

It so happened that after reading so many books on treasure hunt especially 'Treasure Island' I got this idea that getting treasures are very easy...especially if there's an old house (of course if it's a bit ruined that's the icing on the cake!) you are sure to get some kind of treasure if you have the tenacity and persistence!!!

Now we had this ancestral house at Dakhshineswar which was quite old and a bit ruined ofcourse...so I decided that this would be my happy hunting ground! So in all the weekends we used to go and visit there...I used to spend most of the time hunting for my precious treasure!

We had this old room, sort of an attic room at the rooftop where all the disused, old and broken things were stored...i.e it was basically a sort of store room! However, I got this crazy idea that perhaps this was the room where my treasure would perhaps be hidden...coz this was the least obvious place for others to search for it....and Aye! I promised to myself that I would not relent until and unless I find out my precious treasure from there! Hence, as soon as I decided on my target, I spent the whole noon hunting for my "precious"! No scoldings or repeated warnings could make me lose my focus...the others were just obstacles(as it happens in the books the deadly 'villains', including several cockroaches and spiders!) Aye! you know what my friends, it's truly said that persistence bears fruit....so at last after a neverending search I got a 'ring' - which I called 'Boidurja Moni'! At last I was the victor, though at that present moment I was looking more like a lunatic from Ranchi assylum coz of being smeared with the cobwebs and my hair resembling like a 'bird's nest'! And victoriously I went back to my folks (read angry dad whom my grandma was busy coaxing!)and showed them the prize...... 'Boidurja Moni' !!!!!

Aye my friends...I was so terribly proud so happy......I felt like the richest person on earth or perhaps like Columbus.....but my villianous relatives didn't welcome my discovery...they didn't yield my friends and they announced boldly...."So you got hold of this 'tuti futi' cheap, old, thrown away ring" !!!!!

Nobody listened to my point of view...instead I got a good thrashing from my mom.....and repeated threats "If you dare to do it again then.........!!!!!" So my friends for that time being I had to discard my ideas of treasure hunt...the villains were too villainous to fight with.....but hope never dies and I promise I will go for another treasure hunt this time to AFRICA!!!!!! And I hope that you will encourage me in this adventure...and if you want to be part of that...no problemo.....just pay all the necessary costs...and I promise you won't regret it!!!!

Till then
Adios.....

The Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his room-mate all the things he could see from outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live, for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlightened by all the activities and the colour of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while the children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all these exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

Days and weeks passed by. One morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the change, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased room-mate to describe such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue :
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared is doubled. If you want to feel rich just count all the things you have that mpney cannot buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the Present."

Keep smiling always.